As of last year, Loyola has changed the way it looks at illegal drug use on campus. In the past, punishments for illegal drug use on campus were limited to a series of warnings and nominal fines.
Now, the entire issue is handled not by our perhaps overly friendly Loyola University Police Department, but rather by the unforgiving faces of the city’s own New Orleans Police Department.
As with many Loyola policy decisions, the new drug policy fits into bed nicely with Tulane’s illegal drug procedures. You could easily see a situation were if Loyola didn’t have as strict of a drug policy as Tulane, all of the druggies would flock to the Loyola dorms to get their fix.
This can be seen on the borders of states that have rules against various forms of debauchery, such as porn, fireworks and gambling.
However, there is a more important reason for Loyola to upgrade their drug policy than just combating the line crossing ne’er-do-wells. Illegal drugs are by definition illegal in the state of Louisiana. Loyola should not be harboring illegal drug use by watering down the punishment.
If you live in your own house in the city of New Orleans and you get caught with illegal drugs, you have to deal with the NOPD.
Life in a residential hall should be no different. Loyola should not coddle students by turning laws into warnings. College is a transition time and part of that transition is being treated like adults. There is no difference between the intent of a large collection of marijuana plants. Whether it be in a house or a dorm room makes no difference.
Nevertheless, in your own house, you don’t have authority figures sniffing the hallways, (that doesn’t sound like being treated like an adult).
As a Jesuit institution, we have an obligation that is above the law. Loyola has to conduct itself in a manner that fosters the growth of the whole person. Drugs are destructive in nature and Loyola is in the business of building strong and intelligent people, not destroying them.
That is why we have drug laws and should enforce them to their fullest. However, Loyola should not limit itself to using disciplinary regulation to combat drug use.
The Tulane students could rally for legal drug use on campus, as they do not bear this burden of Jesuit identity; however, we Loyola students have more on the table.
Loyola is not merely school, it is a way of life and a worldview. It is one thing to set high standards, it is another to maintain them and raise them even further.
This editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board named above.
